This invention relates to office furniture, and more specifically to "modular" furniture. Modular furniture comprises a limited number of standard units adapted to be assembled together to define furniture in shapes and dimensions corresponding to any need.
It relates more particularly to furniture which are designed in such a manner to provide means for receiving, guiding and concealing the power leads feeding all the appliances supported thereupon, said means having for further advantage to protect said power leads while allowing each of them to be available at a closest corresponding location, regardless of the location of the appliances.
Generally, a piece of furniture according to this invention comprises a top supported by a metallic frame having feet, and said power leads of said appliances distributed on said top are running from said appliances to their sockets usually at the ground level. As soon as several appliances are concerned, there appears an entanglement of leads, which is unpractical, inaesthetic and likely to damage appliances as well as leads.
To deal with this drawback, it has been proposed attachments provided in order to group together the sockets for leads connecting several appliances and looking like a dashboard installed for example on the wall above the piece of furniture having such appliances thereupon. However such an attachment is not a part of said piece and does not solve the problem of the leads running between the appliances and the sockets.
This invention solves this problem as well as those described hereinabove, thanks to simple means requesting only small changes in the existing furniture, involving minor expenses and having no consequence in their use.
Said changes are essentially related to the shaping of the frame elements and of the feet of the furniture, with a view to have said elements and feet adapted to receive, guide, protect and conceal all said power leads of all appliances distributed on the top of said piece of furniture, whatever their number and wherever their location.
By the term "appliances" it is well understood that all and any appliances used in a modern office are concerned, i.e writing machines, computers of any size, recorders of any type as well as telephones, lamps and other lightening systems and the same; as a consequence, the term "power leads" should be taken as having the widest meaning, including coaxial cables, high voltage cables, low voltage cables and the same.
To this effect, according to this invention, the frame of such a piece of furniture is built from standard metallic elements, each of which consisting in a metallic shaped tube having an horizontal upper face supporting the top of said piece, a substantially vertical rear face and a front face, said horizontal face and said front face being spaced by a slot opening under the edge of said top, all the power leads needed for feeding all the appliances located upon said top being received in said shaped tube and all the connections between all said appliances and said leads running from each appliance to the point of the corresponding lead closest from said appliance.
Preferably, such a shaped tube has along one of its edges defining said slot a rim providing its stiffness.
The frame of the piece of furniture of the invention is therefore built from a number of such shaped tubes assembled together, e.g by angle brackets which can be used to fix to said pieces further attachments such as boxes, racks, shelves and the same.
The top is supported by said frame upon the horizontal faces of said elements, and preferably a rubber lip is pinched between said top and said element in such a manner to cover said slot to conceal and protect the same, which allows the passage of all leads at any location of said slot. As a consequence thereof, when an appliance is disposed in a given location upon said top, it will only be necessary to run its power feeding lead perpendicular to the top edge until the corresponding point of the slot, and to pass it through the slot by distorting temporarily said lip then along the shaped tube until its socket.
Generally said sockets are at the ground level so that the invention provides also means for guiding and protecting the leads from the frame until the ground. Such means consist in a specific construction of the feet of the piece of furniture.
According to this invention, a foot comprises a metallic shaped tube having two vertical rear faces having the width of a frame element, and cut out at their top corresponding to the opening of said frame elements, and one front face set back from said rear faces front edge, the remaining space in front of said front element being closed by a cover defining at its top part a channel for said power leads passing from an element to another, said channel opening at its end in front of said cuts, and further defining along its height a vertical channel for receiving, guiding and concealing said leads from said top to the ground socket.
Preferably, such a shaped tube is obtained by simple shaping of a unique sheet and fitting of the cover by any proper means, which gives a possibility, according to the selection of the cover, to offer quite a variety of decorations for the piece of furniture.
According to a modification, instead cf a unique sheet, the same tube can be obtained from two shaped sheets assembled along their vertical edges.
It is therefore clear that this invention provides a new piece of furniture which is distinctively original in relation to the previously known, by the construction of the frame elements and of the feet, obtained as simple shaped tubes of proper section, said construction having for advantage to provide for all needed power leads reception, guidance, protection and concealing from all appliances to their ground sockets.